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How to Self-Publish and Keep Your Sanity

Traditional publishing has been inundated with submissions for years, and way back when, your only recourse was to make your manuscript stand out. You had to find that one idea, that one story that was different from anything else to get published.

Not to fear! Self-publishing has made it possible for authors who have a story to tell to get their work published. It’s not that self-published books are bad. Far from it! I’ve read many books that were self- published and have won awards.

If you want your work to stand out among the others, make it the best it can be.

How does one go about doing this self-publishing thing?

An author must wear many hats when they self-publish their book. First, make sure your manuscript is ready. Has it been critiqued? Given to a beta reader? Edited? All those things are a must before you even think about submitting it. If you want your work to stand out among the others, make it the best it can be. Sure, there are some who just want to put their book out there and say they’ve published a book. But if it’s riddled with errors, no one will buy it.

Correct Formatting

You’ll want to make sure that your manuscript is formatted correctly. If you have the budget, you can send your ms. to a formatter. They will take care of the following steps for you, or if you’re handy with the computer, you can do it yourself. If not, KDP and other self-publishing venues have templates for most trim sizes. Be aware that you’ll have to adjust them if you have more than ten chapters, but they have instructions for you to do that.

If your book will be a trim size of 6 x 9 (or whatever size you choose), you will need to format your ms. to that size. Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to go through the ms. again, to make sure you don’t have any “widows or orphans” (single words or lines on a page by themselves, or at the beginning of a page or end of a paragraph).

Also, justify both right and left margins to get rid of the “ragged” look of the right edge, giving the page a cleaner look. That seems to be the industry standard.

Bind It

Once all that is done, you’ll have a better idea of your page count for the next step. You have to have an allowance for the binding of the book. In your margin settings, set your inside margins to what is specified with the publisher (it’s a different setting with different page counts, so that is why you need a fairly exact number for that), then mirror the margins, so that the left and right pages will have the correct inside margins once the book is bound.

Do you have a cover for it? Most self-publishing sites have a cover generator that you can play with to make your cover for free. Templates can help to make your vision a reality. You can upload a photo you have (make sure it’s high quality) to their templates, pick your font, and then it will go through a cover review to make sure it follows their rules.

If you’ve got some kind of budget for your cover, hiring someone with Photoshop or computer skills can make your cover a one-of-a-kind creation that will stand out. There are several groups on Facebook that are dedicated just to covers, and you can also find some on Fiverr.

If you’re willing to learn, there are tutorials on YouTube that can show you how to create your own cover. You’ll save some money and you’ll have created something that you can be proud of.

At this point you’ll want to upload your manuscript to the publisher. There are quite a few out there to choose from, but make sure you are not sending your baby to a vanity press. What’s a vanity press? A vanity press is a self-publishing company that will publish your manuscript for a fee, usually into the thousands of dollars. What do you get for that money? Not much. They will design a cover for you that anyone could have put together. It’s usually three colors, and it probably won’t catch the essence of your work. Not to mention if you haven’t edited your work, they won’t, either.

Get It Out There

There are so many reputable ways to get your book out there now, but you’ll need to do your homework and check them all out. Create Space has merged with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), which seems to be the more popular company. IngramSpark will do it for a set-up fee, and they have a wider distribution that just Amazon, including bookstores.

Once you have uploaded your ms. to the publisher, they will have to review it for errors. That usually takes about 24 hours for the review. If you haven’t done your cover, now is a good time to work on it.

You’ll be notified by email when your ms. has finished the review process. If you don’t have any errors, hurray! You did everything right! If you have errors, look at the notes and go through the online reviewer to fix them. Once that’s done, off to the reviewer again. This is the time consuming process.

While it’s being reviewed, you can pick which markets you want your book distributed in. U.S.? Absolutely. UK? Why not? After you pick where it’s distributed, you can set your price. KDP will give you a minimum price you must be at or above to sell your book for, and you can pick which royalties you prefer. You can always go back and change your price and royalties later if you wish.

You get the email and you’ve finally passed the review stage. Now what? Is it ready to go? Maybe not quite. I would recommend ordering a proof copy if your book will be in print. That way you can make sure the cover colors are how they should be (I had a book that printed darker than what the computer was showing me, and had to have the cover re-done—thanks, KL Cooper!). Reviewing a physical copy is also a good way to spot any other errors that may have been skimmed over on the online reviewer.

Push Publish

You get your actual print copy of your book and things look good. You can now start to hyperventilate as you hit “Publish.” It will feel good and stress you out at the same time. In roughly 3-5 days, your book will be listed on Amazon. Order your author copies to sell or give away, and crack open the champagne. You’re a published author now!

Margena Adams Holmes was born in Bellflower, CA sometime in the 1960s. She has always had a love for both reading and writing, writing her first song/poem in 1st grade. Margena is a big supporter of indie authors and will read anything that draws her into the story. She is an observer of life, and many everyday things could (and do!) end up in her writings. Her publications are available through her author page. Contact Margena via email: jedi_anegram@hotmail.com.

You Finished NaNoWriMo—Now What?

NaNoWriMo has ended, and every writer that participated has come out of hibernation with a 50,000 word novel. Congratulations! You did it! Now what? It’s time to reconnect with the outside world again, see family and friends – and make sure that little Sally hasn’t been eating the cat’s food all month. Celebrate your success with a night out for dinner or a movie. I’m sure you can still see most of the blockbusters that were released in November while you were writing.

Now What?

But, what do you really do now? First of all—relax! That was a lot of writing for a month, but now you have a whole new novel. That is quite the accomplishment! The novel may even make sense, but right now, put it away for a while. After writing all those words, you’re probably sick of seeing the story. It’s okay to have feelings of resentment toward this thing you created, and may even think it sucks and want to chuck it out the window. Before you do something that drastic, let it sit while you breathe. You’ve got the holidays coming up this month, so take the time to visit with the friends and family you neglected while in your writing cave.

Make Preliminary Notes

After letting it sit for a bit, take a look at it again. Read it over with fresh eyes. Wow, did I really write that same sentence on two different pages? Make some preliminary notes on what you want to change, but don’t do your full-on edit just yet. Get a feel for what you wrote, as you may not have had time to do that as you wrote your novel. NaNo gets you writing, but it’s intense writing. Now you have the time to check it out.

Edit

Once your preliminary read-through is done, take your time to look it over with a fine-tooth comb. Refer to your notes and read each section carefully. Does it need a little more description here, or less dialogue there? How’s the grammar? This is where you want to make those changes, add some “flavor” to what you wrote. During NaNo, you’re so focused on “getting the story out” that sometimes these bits can be glossed over and missed altogether. Take the time now to add these things in. Hopefully you still have some of your coffee or tea to get you through this process.

When I do NaNo, I know that my writing suffers a bit because I’m focused on word count. A month later, I’m ready to tackle what I’ve written, see what can be salvaged, and start the editing process. I’m super proud of all of you who took part in NaNoWriMo this year, and maybe someday soon I’ll see your brand new book for sale on Amazon!

You’re Doing WHAT in November?

November. Cooler weather, crisp leaves, pumpkin spiced everything, and that crazy time of year called National Novel Writing Month, affectionately called NaNoWriMo—easier to say, too. It just rolls off the tongue. That time of year when all writers hibernate to write out 50,000 words in 30 days.

Be a Little Crazy

Say what? 50,000 words in 30 days? Are you insane? You’re going to attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days, while shopping for the holidays, preparing for Thanksgiving, working your job, taking care of the family, and not send your kids out to pee in the backyard or pour your toddlers food into the cat bowl? Why yes, yes I am!

You have to be a little crazy to be a writer. Writers talk to themselves, trying to figure out plot points in their story, have conversations with their characters, and you really don’t want to check their search history.

50,000 words in 30 days? How?

Planning. You may be a Pantser, but you really do need to do some planning for this if you wish to keep what little sanity you have as a writer intact. Your daily writing goal works out to be 1,667 words—roughly about four pages a day, single spaced.

When are you most productive? Do you write better in the morning or at night? If you are more creative in the morning, plan to write then, even if you have to get up an hour or two earlier to write before going to work. If you wait until after work to try to write, you’ll find yourself forcing it. Instead of 1,667 words, you have five, and two of those will be Chapter One. On the other hand, if you’re a Night Owl, writing first thing in the morning probably won’t work, even after your third cup of coffee. You’ll be worried about making your daily goal and sit there and stress for the entire morning, banging your head on your keyboard because you can’t find the words to write.

Caffeine. Stock up now on your caffeinated drink of choice. You’ll need it for those long writing marathons (it’s a marathon, not a sprint, as they say). Don’t overdo it, however, or you’ll be jittery and your writingwilllooklikethis or ttttthiiiisss. Buy a new mug for your drink, something special perhaps just for NaNoWriMo with a motivational quote on it. Coffee or tea not your thing? How about hot chocolate or a candy bar? The little bits of caffeine in chocolate may be enough to stimulate your creative juices. Make it dark chocolate for added health benefits.

Snacks. You have to eat sometime, right? Have healthy snacks at the ready to munch on while you’re thinking about how to kill off your bad guy.

Water. Don’t forget to hydrate, or your brain will turn to mush. Seriously, you’ll have a headache by Chapter Five. Plus caffeine is dehydrating. Drink your water!

Take a break! Get up and move around to get the blood flowing to your brain again, as well as to your legs and backside. Exercise, even if it’s just taking a walk around the block will help when you’ve hit that creative wall, and help you keep your sanity while writing those 1,667 words a day.

Turn off or silence your cell phone. Pretend you’re at work (you are) and aren’t allowed to answer your phone. The constant distraction from social media, emails, friends, etc, will certainly drive you crazy while trying to write.

No matter your writing style, keeping your sanity during this exciting month of writing will be beneficial to you and those around you. Otherwise, you have little Sally running to her room, screaming, “Mom’s putting my food in the cat bowl again!” Good luck to all you WriMos out there!

Hitting “Publish”

As a self-published author, I find it’s sometimes a scary thing when you are doing it all on your own. You have to make sure your manuscript is edited, you have to either create your cover or find someone willing to do it within your budget, and then you start the publishing process—all on your own!

You write your heart out, creating characters and worlds, and the self-doubt comes in. Is it good enough? Wow, that bit of writing there is awesome. I’m the greatest writer ever. Cue the Rocky theme. Then you write some more, and re-read it the next day. Wow, that bit sucks. I’m the worst writer ever. Cue Green Day’s Good Riddance.

Critique groups

I have used critique groups in the past for working out passages in my book, and this is usually the first time you’ll put your work “out there” for review, and it can be a bit scary. The members of the group will offer up ways to make your writing better. It may be as simple as changing a word for more impact, or as complicated as moving an entire sentence. As hard as it may be, don’t take it personally what they say about your writing (What? They don’t love my baby like I do?). It’s meant to be constructive and help better your story.

Beta Readers

Beta readers are a great addition to your writing team at this point. They will tell you what is wrong with your book, and what is working with your story as well. They are an invaluable tool to making your story better. I have found some to be just as good as an editor—very thorough.
Recently, I published my new book with Create Space (yes, it’s still alive and kicking—for now), and every step of the way, my breathing became more shallow and rapid and my hands started shaking. Is this ready? Like, is my baby, that I’ve nurtured and cared for, written and rewritten, edited until the cows came home, really ready to be put forth into the world?

Online Reviewer

The online reviewer showed that there was one issue, but it seemed that it was already taken care of, since as I reviewed the files, I didn’t see any issues. Wow, that’s a first! I did it right the first time? Awesome.

The Proof Copy

I ordered my proof copy, because even though you can see what’s wrong in the online reviewer, having a physical copy in your hands shows a lot more issue. Whoops! My author picture inside at the end of my book is off-center. Gotta fix it! I look through the book more, making sure it is indeed ready to go. Upload the corrected files…and wait for the review of the files again. This time, no issues are found. Now, is my baby really ready to be put into the cold, cruel world of readership? [Further Reading]

Hit Publish

Well, it may never be 100% ready to go. I think any writer will tell you that they’ve found issues they should have corrected on any of their books. You could spend a lifetime making it ready to go, but for now, you hit “Publish” and let it grow in the world!

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